Rotary drilling-machine



L. J. BLACKn ROTARY DRILLING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 13, 1918.

Pmnmd May25 mm. 2 SHEETs-SHEET l.

L. J. BLACK. R0.TARY DRILLING MACHINE.

' APPLICATION FILED DEC. 13, L918- Lmmm, Patented May 25,1920.

HEETSSHEET 2- UNITED STATES LEE JACKSON BLACK, 0F BEAUMONT, TEXAS.

ROTARY DRILLING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1920.

Application filed December 13, 1918. Serial No. 266,590.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Lee J. BLACK, a citizen of the United States, residmg at Beaumont, in the county of J efferson and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Drilling-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to well drilling rigs commonly known as rotaries, in which a turntable is used for rotating the tool and pipe.

The invention has special reference to the gripping ihembers or slips carried by the turntable, and its object 1s to provide a novel and improved means for elevating these members so that the drill p pe or other part gripped thereby maybe released when it is desired to raise or lower thesame.

The invention also has for its ob ect a means for operating the slips in the manner stated which can be readily controlled without requiring the attention of an extra man, and which does not require the use of slips of special design, the mechanism being applicable to slips of standard make, and also requiring no changes in the structured the turntable or other parts of the mach1ne.

Other objects and advantages of thejlllvention will be pointed out in the detailed description appearing hereinafter, and in order that the same may be better understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this spec1fication.

Iii the drawings,

Fi re 1 is a plan view of the appliance, and igs. 2 and 3 are sections on the llnes 2-2 and 3-3, respectively, of Fig. 1

Referring specifically to the drawings, 5 denotes the top or rotating drive member of a rotary well drilling machine, said member havin a central vertical opening to receive the rill stem, and through which the casing sections or pipes are adapted to be passed. The member 5 is supported n a base 6, with anti-friction rollers 7 interposed therebetween. As nothing new is clairiied for the drillin machine, and the same is one of conventional design, a further description thereof is not necessaig.

The opening in the member 5. is tted with a bushin 8 having a downwardly tapered bore an supporting a series of verticall slidable gripping blocks 9 or slips as t ey are commonly termed in the art, the

bushing having dovetailed slots 10 and the slips having correspondin ly shaped tenons 11 at the back fitting in said slots.

Beneath the member 5, and located concentrically with respect thereto, is a vertically shii'table ring 12 having a number of upstanding stems 13 correspondin in number and location to that of the shps 9, the ring being of such diameter that the stems are positioned directly beneath the slips, there being one stem under each slip. The slots 10 extend down as fa as the bottom of the bushing 8 so that the stems may enter said slots to enga e the bottoms of the slips. At the bottom of the bushing 8 is an outstanding flange 8 serving as an abutment for limiting the downward movement of the slips, and as the tenons 11 are dovetailed, the slips cannot tilt forwardly, and hence they are prevented from getting away and dropping into the hole under any conditions. The stems 13 pass through openings in or back of the flange 8.

Inasmuch as the member 5 is rotating when in operation, the ring 12 carrying the stems 13 is also mounted for rotary movement by being supported on a bearing ring 14, the top of the latter being rabbeted as shown at 15 to provide a seat for the rin 12 and for holding said ring a ainst latera displacement. The ring 12 is roe to rotate on the ring 14, and the latter is supported so that it may be raised or lowered, and as I it supports the ring 12 said ring and its stems 13 may be moved up or down for a purpose to be presently described.

On the side of the ringl4, at diametrically opposite points, are outstanding trunnions 16 which seat slidably in vertical guides 17, the latter being bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to wooden sills or skids 18 which support the base 6 of the machine. To each trunnion 16 is connected one end of a bell-crank lever 19 having its other end connected to an operating means, whereby, when the levers are swun the 14 will be raised or lowered. he operating means for the levers may be a steam, compressed air or other fluid-pressure motor; or the levers may be operated manually. The drawings show a cylinder 20 in which works a piston 21 having its rod 22 suitably connected to a beam 23 connecting the two levers so that they may be operated simultaneously.

The piston 21 is also shown with a second rod 24 extending in the opposite direction from the rod 22 and connected to a hand lever 25 so that the levers 19 may be operated manually.

The fulcrums 26 of the levers 19 are supported in bearings 27 on the under side of the base 6, the latter being slotted as shown at 28 to accommodate the levers.

The ends of the levers 19 to which the operating means are connected are upstanding, and said ends are engageable by gravity latch dcgs 29 carried by the base 6.

The fluid-pressure supply pipe to the cylinder 20 is shown at 30, the same being provided with an ordinary three-way valve 31 by which the fluid-pressure is controlled.

The purpose of the slips 9 is to facilitate handling of the pipe or casing sections while they are being raised or lowered. By reason of the downward taper of the bushing 8 the slips are crowded inwardly to grip the pipe as they move downwardly in the bushing, and when moved upwardly, they recede from the pipe and release the same. It will be noted that one of the slips has its teeth out vertically, whereas the others have their teeth out across. The first mentioned slip therefore prevents the pipe from turning, whereas the other slips prevent the pipe from slipping down.

he drawings show the pipe 32 as being gripped by the slips 9, the latter being now in their lowermost position, the rings 12 and 14.- having been lowered to retract the stems 13 and allow the slips to slide down to grip the pipe, the weight of the latter tending to draw the slips downward into tight gripping engagement. This was done by operating the levers 19. When it is desired to elevate the pipe 32, steam or other fluid-pressure is turned into the cylinder -20, whereupon the levers 19 are swung in a direction to elevate the rings 12 and 14, and as these rings move upwardly the stems 1 3 push against the bottoms of the slips causing the same to slide upward and also move laterally and away from the pipe 32 to release the same. The pipe can now be raised until the coupling or joint to be unscrewed is reached, whereupon fluid-pressure is let into the cylinder 20 to reverse the iston 21 so that the levers 19 swing in a irection to lower the rings 12 and 14, and draw the lifting stems 13 downward. As .the stems 13 lower, the. slips 9 follow and grip the pipe 32 when the lifting strain on the latter is removed, and

the pipe will now be firmly held until such tlme as,the operator wishes to release the same. This same operation applies when lowering the pipe, except that the pipe is lowered during the intervals when the slips 9 are up and clear of the pipe. The fluidpressure apparatus can be left 0E, and the levers 19 operated solely by a hand .lever such as the one shownat 25, but the use of a fluid-pressure apparatus is practical, it being inexpensive and speedy 1n operation. The operation can be easily controlled by the three-way valve 31 without the driller going near the machine or from the position in which he works. The valve can be located any distance or at any convenient point away from the machine. It will be necessary for the cylinder to be mounted upon the base of the machine in practical construction, but the valve could be placed any distance from the machine, and the cylinder thus controlled from a distance on the same principle that the air brake is controlled on the train from the locomotive cab.

As the stems are not entirely Withdrawn from the slots 10 when they are down, and they move with the member 5 when the latter is turning, they remain at all times in proper position to engage the slips 9 when they rise. The. slips 9 are of standard design, and the bushing 8 can be designed to fit any standard make of machine. It will also be noted that nothing needs to be removed from the machine when drilling. The slips can be set to suit the sizeof the pipe, and they need not be removed either while pulling the pipe from the hole or while putting the pipe in; nor need they be removed while drilling. The driller or operator has control of the sli s at all times, and it for any reason the uid pressure should be cut off from the cylinder, the slips would automatically drop by gravity back in position to catch the pipe, their 1 weight being sufficient for this action.

I claim:

1; In a rotary drilling machine, a member gageable with the blocks for elevating the same to release the work, a support for said stems, the stems and their support being rotatable with the drive member, a vertically movable bearing member for the support, and means for elevating and lowering the bearing member.

3. In a rotary drilling machine, a rotatingdrive member having a vertical 'work receiving opening, workgripping blocks mounted in said opening and movable downwardly therein to grip the work, stems engagea e with the blocks for elevating the same to release the work, a support for said stems, the stems and their support being rotatable with the drive member, a vertically movable non-rotatable bearing member for the support, and means for elevating and lowering the bearing member.

4. In a rotary drilling machine, a rotating drive member having a vertical work receiving opening, work-gripping blocks mounted in said opening and movable downwardly therein to grip the work. stems engageable with the blocks for elevating the same to release the work, a support for said stems, the stems and their support being rotatable with the drive member, a verbcally movable bearing member for the support, trunnions extending. from the bearing member, guides in which the trunnions are slidable, levers connected to the trunnions, and means for operating the levers to elevate and lower the bearing member.

5. In a rotary drilling machine, a rotating drive memberhaving a vertical work receiving opening, work-gripping blocks mounted in said opening and movable downwardly therein to grip the work, stemsengageable with the blocks for elevating the same to release the work, a support for said stems, the stems and their support being rotatable with the drive member, a vertically movable bearing member for the support, trunnions extending from the bearing member, guides in which the trunnions are slidable, levers connected to the trunnions, means for operating the levers to elevate and lower the bearing member and means for holding the levers in position to hold the bearing member elevated.

6. Ina rotary drilling machine, a rotating drive member having a vertical work receiving opening, work-gripping blocks mounted in said opening and movable downwardly therein to grip the work, stems engageable with the blocks for elevating the same to release the work, a support for said stems, means for elevating and lowering the support, and means for holding the last mentioned means when in position to hold the supportelevated.

7. In a rotary drilling machine, a member having a vertical work receiving opening, work-gripping blocks mounted in said opening and movable downwardly therein to grip the work, stems engageable' with the blocks for elevating the same to release the work, a support for said stems, and levers connected to thesupport for elevating and lowering the same.

'8. In a rotary drilling machine, a member having a vertical work receiving opening, work-gripping blocks mounted in said opening and movable downwardly therein to grip the work, stems engageable with the blocks for elevating the same to release the work, a support for said stems, levers connected to the support for elevating and lowering the same, and means for holding the levers in position to hold the support elevated.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

LEE JACKSON BLACK. 

